While stating concerns about loss of jobs, spikes in utility bills, and economic impact may or may not be correct, inferring that "God gave coal to Alabama" is not an appropriate defense for arguments supporting ongoing pollution from power plants fueled by coal.

First of all, we do stand by "Separation of Church and State," but since you have brought "God" into the argument and issued a call for prayer we would like to respond with a few thoughts from Scripture.

Psalm 24 states: "The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it."

The earth does not belong to us. The things that are in it do not belong to Alabama. We are merely stewards of what belongs to God. Yes, by the laws of our country and the laws of the Bible we can purchase and own a piece of property and call it home but that does not negate the words of Psalm 24 - it all belongs to God.

Therefore we must tend God's creation with the care that we would for anything on loan to us from someone we love and respect. If a friend allowed you to house-sit, while he was away, most likely you would care for his home with more diligence than if it were your own. We should be stewards of what belongs to God with even more care and diligence.

The very first sin occurs when woman and man take what belongs to God and act as if it is their own to claim and use as they see fit. This leads to great suffering.

Genesis 2:15 tells us, "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it." A gardener does not destroy but rather nurtures and cares for the earth. A gardener knows that depleted soil is useless, that toxicity gets into what grows, and that some effort is needed to keep the garden thriving and beautiful.

Genesis 1 says that God made the earth and the waters and the sky and God said they were "very good." Is the same sky "very good" if it is filled with pollution? Or are we perhaps defacing the beauty of God's creation?

A man who worked in the oil industry for all of his adult life likes to say, "It doesn't matter what you think about global warming. Do you think global warming is a hoax? Ok. Do you think global warming is a natural occurrence? Ok. Do you think global warming is caused by humankind? Ok. It doesn't matter what you think about that. The real question is: don't we want to pollute less?"

Mr. Beeker, you ask, "Who has the right to take what God's given a state?" and so we ask you, "Who has the right to pollute what God has made?"

Ms. Cavanaugh, you say, "We will not stand for what they're trying to do to our way of life."

So we ask: is that way of life wholesome and good and beautiful? Can we sing "Sweet Home Alabama" and mean it? Are we, in Alabama, people who care for our neighbor and adhere to the golden rule? Or are we selfish and is that way of life one that contributes to poor health, a polluted atmosphere, general ugliness, and puts at risk our neighbors and our grandchildren?

You have said, "I hope all the citizens of Alabama will be in prayer that the right thing will be done." We will be praying without ceasing that the right thing will be done.

We care about the people of Alabama. We want all who are able to work to have the opportunity to work. We interact with many who struggle to make ends meet, who live on the street, who cannot find work and these issues are important to us as each individual person is important to us, but surely there are other ways to address these concerns than through resistance to cutting back on power plant emissions.